According to the "2022 Mosque Attacks" report published by the Religious Affairs Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB), 35 mosques in the country were threatened or attacked in various ways last year.
In the report prepared by the DITIB Anti-Discrimination Bureau, it was noted that 20 of the 35 attacks were carried out in the form of sending insulting, swearing and threatening texts to mosques via mail or e-mail, writing on the walls of 7 mosques, physical damage to 6 mosques and arson in 2 mosques.
In the report, it was stated that 26 of the 35 mosques attacked were DITIB mosques and the others belonged to different Islamic societies.
The report also shared that 43 mosques in 2021 and 111 mosques in 2020 were attacked in various ways.
"Attacks against mosques, whether in the form of threats or physical attacks, are the most visible and overt form of anti-Muslim agitation in a society. Here, hatred for a religious group defined as monolithic is manifested against a symbol that represents the religious identity of the people like no other. It is often denied that attacks on Muslim individuals or groups are anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim or anti-immigration, as in the terrorist attack in Hanau. However, the anti-Muslim background of the attacks on mosques documented in this report is clear," the report said.
In the report, it was also stated that these attacks were only recorded attacks, and the number of those that could not be recorded may be higher. There are approximately 1,000 mosques affiliated to DITIB throughout Germany.